Thursday, July 5, 2012

Good Commentary On Scumbag Going After Tammy Duckworth

Tammy Duckworth, the highly-decorated former Army helicopter pilot, who lost both legs under enemy attack in Iraq, doesn't need to explain herself to anyone -- and certainly not to Tea Party darling Joe Walsh. Duckworth, who was grievously wounded while serving in Iraq in 2004, is a candidate for Congress in Illinois's 8th congressional district and Walsh, the Republic incumbant in that district, is her opponent.

Walsh, who has never served in the military, went after Duckworth on Sunday, lauding Sentaor John McCain's (R-AZ) service record and calling him a "true hero" while implying that Duckworth was not a hero because, according to Walsh, she talks too much about her time in Iraq on the campaign trail.

As a reminder, Representative Walsh is the same sterling character who once suggested that the only reason President Barack Obama was elected -- in a landslide, mind you -- was "white guilt" in America.

“He’s just trying to shift the focus away from the fact he’s done nothing in his two years in Congress other than be an extremist loudmouth for the tea party, and really he’s not served his district at all,” Duckworth said on Tuesday. “I’m proud of my service. I’m proud that I have lived up to my responsibilities to this nation in uniform, that I lived up to my responsibilities as a public servant.”

And Vote Vets, a non-partisan advocacy group on veterans issues, called on Walsh to resign for his remarks, issuing the following statement:

Joe Walsh’s disgust for our veterans’ sacrifices knows no
bounds. First, he falsely and maliciously claims that Tammy Duckworth, a
veteran who lost her legs in Iraq didn’t have much of a record of
service. Now, he denigrates that same American hero for talking about
how her experience shaped her worldview and strengthened her resolve to
serve even more – a conversation that isn’t just legitimate to have, but
crucial as America charts its course domestically and internationally.
This is a new low for this deadbeat dad. Telling a veteran to
shut up on the 4th of July is beyond the pale. We are past the point of
calling on Joe Walsh to apologize. He should step aside and and stop
embarrassing his district and America.

Vote Vets chairman Jon Soltz, who himself has served two tours of duty in Iraq, appeared on MSNBC's Hardball Tuesday and called Walsh's comments "hurtful" saying also that he found it especially bad that the Tea Party crowd in attendance at the town hall meeting actually laughed at the remarks against Duckworth.

"He challenged Tammy Duckworth to a debate at the same time she was at military duty and now this," said Soltz. "I think he's got a long track record of insulting her service."

Former Congressman and Iraq war Veteran Patrick Murphy then commented on the fact that Walsh has also stooped to calling Duckworth a "bureaucrat" because she once served the country as an Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Let me tell you something: Joe Walsh never served," said Murphy. "He doesn't know what it's like to leave your friends, to leave your family to go serve for months at a time in 130-degree heat, to not know if you're ever going to see the people you love again. He doesn't have a right to attack Tammy Duckworth's service."

"He doesn't even have a right now as a congressman to vote on Veterans issues because he has no idea what it's about," Murphy continued. "He's a disgrace. An absolute disgrace."

Here's the entire Hardball segment with Soltz and Murphy:

We have been a nation at war for over a decade and the issue of how we use our military has been the subject of long and contentious debate in our country -- and will continue to be. Duckworth does not, as Walsh contends, oversell her Veterans credentials but she does indeed point out that her service -- and her sacrifice -- give her a unique view on the use of American power and what should be required to commit our men and women to a war zone.

Let's hope that voters in Illinois's 8th district take both experience and character into account when electing their next representative in November. If they do, Tammy Duckworth will be on her way to Washington and Joe Walsh can look for a new job -- maybe sweeping the floors at his state's American Legion halls.

Bob Geiger is a writer specializing in coverage of issues affecting U.S. military families and America's Veterans. His work has appeared in major daily newspapers including the San Francisco Examiner, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the New York Journal News.

A contributing writer to The Huffington Post, Bob is currently working on When The Shooting Stops, a book about the lives of our military men and women once they return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Why This Blog?

I spent a lot of the last decade pissed off -- really pissed off. And my writing at the time reflected it: Angry, pointed and focused like a laser on everything I did not like about the previous administration and, in particular, the war in Iraq, which as a military Veteran, left me fuming more days than not.

My opposition to the Iraq war was specifically because of having been in the military and my unshakable belief that our men and women in uniform were serving honorably and with tremendous courage in a war that was not worthy of their sacrifice. I stand by every word I wrote during that time, but I would be lying if I said there were not some things that I wish I could take back. Thus is the lot you draw for yourself when you are angry and where most of what you care about is what you are against, rather than what you are for.

This web site and my upcoming book, When The Shooting Stops, will be all about what I am for: Our newest military families who have sacrificed so much over the last 10 years, the people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and our duty as a nation to see that what they gave -- and what they risked -- is honored and never forgotten.

I can't promise I will never take a political tone -- can any of us ever swear to that these days? What I do promise is that I will damned well try to keep this blog about the people who are wearing the uniform, those who have served and their families. I may call some people out, but I will try to make the criteria for that criticism what they do for or against the interests of our military people and Veterans and not what political party they belong to.

After feeling at odds for so many years with my more conservative friends, it feels good to come back to something that, at its core, is something most people can agree with -- our military families and Veterans gave to us and we must remember to give back to them.